Who is the greatest sportsman ever?

I completely disagree.

Don't bother replying if you're going to debate it. I don't want this thread to turn into Ronaldo vs Messi/Maradona/Eusebio. We have enough of that in the Spanish Football thread.

Hold on I'm not trying to argue but are you really saying that Ronaldo's appearance has no relevance to his popularity? He has far more (30 mil) Facebook followers but one less European cup, and half as many Ballon D'ors

I think he is a great footballer but his fans come in four (sometimes overlapping) groups:

1) Gay and metrosexual men. The sort that openly profess their love for Justin Bieber.
2) Manchester United and Real Madrid fans (self-explanatory)
3) Muslims who are grateful for his support for Palestine
4) Women who don't hold a genuine interest in football

No, I admit his appearance is significant to his popularity. However, his goal scoring records have nothing to do with his appearance. Even if he looked like Luke Chadwick, he still scored 17 goals in one Champions League campaign (with injuries).

No, I admit his appearance is significant to his popularity. However, his goal scoring records have nothing to do with his appearance. Even if he looked like Luke Chadwick, he still scored 17 goals in one Champions League campaign (with injuries).

He has twice been in the champions league final. The first time he played terribly and was bailed out by john terry. The second time he played terribly and was bailed out by Sergio Ramos.


Ladies and gents I give you the greatest sportsman of all time


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Since joining La Liga he has only once outscored Messi in the League. Great player but Messi is the better of the two. Doesn't explain why you put him as the greatest sportsman of all time.

Why are you making it a Ronaldo vs Messi when I strictly said I didn't want to debate the two? And of course, LightBlueSoldier arrives as soon as he sees Ronaldo and Messi mentioned in the same sentence.

I will not be reading anymore replies in this thread as I really don't want it to turn into Ronaldo vs Messi.

You missed the third final where he did nothing at all (2009)! He played very well in '08 though.

Hold on I'm not trying to argue but are you really saying that Ronaldo's appearance has no relevance to his popularity? He has far more (30 mil) Facebook followers but one less European cup, and half as many Ballon D'ors

I think he is a great footballer but his fans come in four (sometimes overlapping) groups:

1) Gay and metrosexual men. The sort that openly profess their love for Justin Bieber.
2) Manchester United and Real Madrid fans (self-explanatory)
3) Muslims who are grateful for his support for Palestine
4) Women who don't hold a genuine interest in football

Ali no doubt.

Which utter plebs went for Cristiano Ronaldo?

There's more footballers than anything else because football is the most popular sport so its harder to be the best.

How can you not include Messi? Plenty of people already consider him the best footballer ever.

I wouldn't vote for Nadal but I understand the logic. 5 years younger than Federer, only 3 less grand slams. By Federers age Nadal will probably have caught up.

So...? Do you think he would if he looked like Scholes? Ronaldo is a marketing brand, not a sports legend

Well yeah Floyd in there is a bit weird, considering most would go for Ali.

My point about the footballer one, is those who vote greatest of all time will usually compare sports. They will not look at the same sport, they will pick the best of that sport and compare. While guys like Ronaldo and Messi are indeed great, if you asked the majority who is the greatest footballer out of the four, I'm pretty sure Maradona and Pele would win. In fact pretty sure Pele would win, given his status in football, not even guys like Messi or Ronaldo command that. One thing as well Messi nor Ronaldo has won a world cup, which counts against them a bit in most people's eyes compared to Pele and Maradona.

Jordan instead of Lebron would be a given, but most people don't follow Basketball here. If it was an american forum, there would probably be an uproar of him being left out. Same with Bo Jackson. Babe Ruth again, but the thing about Baseball is that it isn't popular around the world, most countries don't play it. Bo Jackson's got the two sports thing going for him.

It's more setting up the poll to which people are inclined to pick. I do understand perhaps your reasons for including four footballers, but most aren't going to see it that way as I've explained earlier.

Reading my previous posts, perhaps I'm coming off a bit nasty/complaining too much and if so I apologise. It's an interesting thread. I don't wish to offend. Just stating my opinion about the poll options.

Nadal isn't even in top 5. He can only dominate one slam and on one surface. He hasn't even got enough weeks at number 1 to be in the consideration of GOAT. And please don't say that this era is competitive. Last year Nadal came from a 8 month injury and won pretty much everything.. That is something which would never happen in a competitive era.

1) Ronaldo
2) Ali
3) Federer
4) Messi
5) Schumacher

Ronaldo almost has 91m Facebook fans

Floyd Mayweather Jr or Lionel Messi.
For what they've achieved and also how they've changed their respective sports in different ways.

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No, I admit his appearance is significant to his popularity. However, his goal scoring records have nothing to do with his appearance. Even if he looked like Luke Chadwick, he still scored 17 goals in one Champions League campaign (with injuries).